I can’t believe it’s here – the last week of classes. I feel like I just got to London, and now we’re all packing up and getting ready to leave. This truly was the best semester of college I have ever had, and I am infinitely grateful that I was able to have this opportunity.

The week leading up to our trip to Barcelona was busy but uneventful. I presented my art history final, which I was nervous but proud about. This was an especially challenging final, as I had to curate an art exhibit in London with objects of my choosing.

With two weeks of classes left before the end of our school year, my art history class is all done with field trips. I was pretty bummed as I enjoyed the opportunity to explore different parts of London instead of just learning about them in a classroom setting. Instead, we are focusing on our final presentations, which I will write more about next week once mine is finished!

Our days abroad are starting to wind down, this weekend is the last weekend we have in London besides the week before finals, so we plan to crank out all the remaining tourist attractions we have left. It’s bittersweet to be leaving Europe so soon, I know a lot of us wish we could just rewind and go back to the beginning and experience everything all over again. I’ve had such an amazing time here, and couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity!

This trip has by far been my favorite trip. Berlin and Prague are two of the most interesting cities I have ever been to, not just because of their rich history, but also because of the way they looked. Berlin was industrial; it was full of construction as the relatively new city is still rebuilding itself. There’s a mix of old buildings marked by the war and new, modern buildings with beautiful contemporary designs. Prague was very traditional; it was a beautiful European town with small streets and friendly people. It was very colorful and unique, and made me feel safe.

After a long two weeks filled with midterms and papers, it was finally time for spring break and my trip to Spain with Nick! It has always been a dream of mine to go to Spain, and as my parents call it, see where everything from our Latino culture came from. I was also very excited to see Nick after nearly two and a half months apart.

Now that I've started spring break, it makes more sense to blog about everything that has happened leading up to our spring vacation and blog about my trip in its entirety for my next blog. This is what's been going on during the past week and a half!

When most students think about studying abroad, the last thing they are actually thinking about is the “study” concept of it all. I’m definitely guilty of being one of those students. With all the excitement of going to a foreign country and exploring a completely different culture, it’s easy to forget about your academic responsibilities. That is, until midterms come around.

My first impression of Ireland is not what I was expecting it to be. In the movies, it’s depicted as a beautiful green country with impressive rural scenery. This is not the case for Dublin. It’s a complete city in itself, with an industrial vibe and plenty of stores and heavily trafficked roads.

After being here for nearly three weeks, we have begun to venture off the beaten path and explore the city like the locals do. On Wednesday, I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and was impressed by the sheer size of the place.

The one thing that people didn’t tell us about before we left abroad was the culture shock we were going to face after we come back from abroad. Now, I know it’s early to talk about returning to the United States, but after being here for two weeks, I know it’s going to be hard to adapt back to our lives in the States.

For the past three years throughout my college career, studying abroad has seemed like some abstract concept. I knew since I was a freshman that I wanted to spend a semester traveling and exploring Europe, but it still all seemed too surreal. After what has possibly been one of the most tiresome, overwhelming and exciting weeks of my life, I can finally sit back and reflect on everything that I have experienced and decompress.

No indictment. It’s barely been a week since we last heard those words. We first heard them when unarmed teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer, who later received no criminal charges. We heard them again this week, after we found that another jury decided the police officer who killed Eric Garner would not be indicted for his actions.

It all started with an email Syracuse University students received on May 30, 2014, with a memo announcing the closing of the Advocacy Center. Newly appointed Chancellor Kent Syverud argued that by centralizing all points of entry for students impacted by sexual violence, the university will be able to better treat these cases and get the students the help they need.

I recently stumbled upon an article written by the New York Times that highlighted the financial burden associated with joining a sorority. During the past three years as an active member of the Greek community, I have encountered my fair share of criticisms against Greek life and haven’t paid much attention to them. However, when an acclaimed organization like the Times published a rather skewed article specifically mentioning my university, I knew I had to do something about it.

Picture a country with 180 million people, the largest in that continent. The capital city of this country has a whopping 21 million people living in it. A single man arrives into the country through a commercial airline, infected with the deadly Ebola virus.

A particular website that has been especially useful in allowing me to stay up-to-date with all news is Skimmin. Not to be confused with the super incredible newsletter, The Skimm (which you all should immediately sign up for), Skimmin is the perfect source for fast fact news in any subject.